Modern presidents are the focus of a multimedia collaboration between Time magazine and American Century Investments, Kansas City, Mo.
The mutual fund company is underwriting "Time & The Presidency," a two-year program featuring a traveling photo exhibition of presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to William J. Clinton, occasional educational supplements in Time and a dedicated Internet site. A video presentation will accompany the traveling exhibit, which will tour the country at presidential libraries and other sites nationwide.
The exhibit draws on Time's extensive archives and will cover each President's term and the events that occurred, and the office of the American presidency.
Presidential historian and Time contributor Hugh Sidey wrote the first presidential insert, which was included in the December 1998 Time "Men of the Year" issue. Mr. Sidey, who has spent 40 years covering presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower, also wrote the script for the video presentation.
Mr. Sidey will be joined by former President Gerald Ford on Feb. 23 for the opening of photo exhibition at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Mo.
The Time/American Century exhibition steers away from politics -- it includes only President Clinton's first term. American Century spokesman Chris Doyle stressed that the company's sponsorship of the presidential project is "not a political statement about the current crisis involving the presidency. Rather, `Time & The Presidency' is a retrospective that transcends any one man. The program is intended to reinforce the positive values that make our country great."
